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No.

Court was fine. They were fine. But we had to leave.

Still clutching the scalpel, I stepped quietly from around the door and listened.

Nothing.

Poking my head out, I looked down the hall, but there was no one. From here, I could see the enormous steel door left wide open.

My heart pounded, and I whisper-yelled, “Valentina!” toward the bed. “The door is open. We gotta go.”

Valentina slowly emerged from under the bed, her eyes wide and her mouth parted. “Are you sure it’s okay?”

“I think so. Only one way to find out.” I waved her forward and she scrambled to her feet, wincing.

Staying close to the wall, I led the way down the hall. Every breath I took was shuddery, my knees feeling like they would give out at any second. When we got to the main room, I peered around the corner to find it empty.

Valentina’s hand was wrapped around my upper arm and she was breathing loudly in my ear. I looked at her, at the stark fear in her wide brown eyes, and put my hand on top of hers. “We’re gonna go through that door,” I said quietly, pointing behind me. “And then try to find a way out, okay? Try to be as quiet as you can and stay close.”

She nodded, and then sudden movement over her shoulder had me shoving her behind me as Thorne emerged from the bathroom that I stupidly hadn’t checked. He raised a gun, pointing it at us.

He looked awful. Blood streaked his face, the left side of his head completely matted with it, and his clothes were torn and blood-soaked. He was breathing hard, his eyes wild as they moved over my face. There was a flash of surprise that quickly turned to anger and disgust, and then his thin lips curled up in a satisfied smile. Valentina trembled behind me, both hands gripping my waist as she hid her head against my back.

“Which one of you killed my boy? Tell me who did it. Whoever tells me gets to leave here alive.”

Valentina made a tiny sound of panic beside me, and I took a small step in front of her. “It was me.”

Thorne sneered at me, moved his gun a fraction to the side, and pulled the trigger. Valentina screamed as I flinched, squeezing my eyes shut.

Honestly, at this point, I wasn’t sure I’d feel it if I got shot. My entire body was made up of adrenaline right now. It was the only thing keeping me on my feet.

“How the fuck did you escape?” Thorne sneered. “I never should’ve trusted that dumb fuck from the Barons. Well, you’re here now, that’s all that matters since it’s you I actually wanted.” He flicked the barrel of the gun at Valentina. “She was just a pretty little cunt that came into the store on the wrong day picking fights she had no hope of winning.” He cocked the gun and took a step toward us. “Both of you, get on your knees.”

“No,” I said, my voice shaking with hatred. “Valentina. Run.”

“Yes, please run, darling.” Thorne’s lips curved in a cruel smile.

When she didn’t move, I shouted, “Fucking go! Now!”

Her hands left my waist as she darted for the door, and just as Thorne swung the gun toward her, I dove forward and slashed at his outstretched arm with the scalpel. The gun went off and Valentina screamed behind me. Fuck, I hoped she didn’t get shot. I rammed my body into Thorne, driving him back a step before he regained his footing.

“You fucking cunt!” he snarled, hitting me in the back of the head with his gun. I gritted my teeth as my neck jerked from the blow, ready to lunge up at him when he jammed his boot in the center of my back and stomped me down. He grabbed my hair, right where he hit me, and dragged me up to my knees. I reached up with one hand to grip his forearm, trying to steady myself and yank him off me.

“I can’t wait to fucking break you, you worthless slut,” he sneered, sticking his face in mine, so close I could smell his sour breath. The hard metal of the gun pressed into the side of my head, and a strong wave of anger buzzed through my veins.

This was the man who’d hurt Court, hurt his mom, hurt so many fucking women and he didn’t deserve to live. I screamed in his face and, with my free hand, jammed the scalpel through his cheek.

The surprise in his eyes was almost comical, and he let go of my hair to paw at the scalpel sticking out of his face. I kept hold of it, using the last of my strength to try and drag it through his flesh. The gun went off again, the flash of the bullet leaving the muzzle so close to my eye that I felt the heat of it. Tears blurred my vision, and I held on to the scalpel, grappling with Thorne as he tried to yank me off him, pulling the blade down, down, down, blood pouring from the grisly wound.

He howled as I held on, then finally dropped the gun and let it clatter to the floor. He threw his fist into my face so hard I fell to the side, then tugged the scalpel from his face. He wasn’t even looking at me anymore.

I was still on my knees, panting and dizzy, but I crawled toward the gun and dragged it across the floor, my hands trembling as I wrapped my fingers around the grip and raised it toward Thorne.

He was trying to stop the bleeding in his cheek, and when he finally realized what I was doing, he reached out his hand toward me—just like Tom. As if I had any fucking pity for a monster like him. “Stop⁠—”

I pulled the trigger. Thorne flinched as the shot went wide, and when he figured out he hadn’t actually been shot, his fear morphed into fury. Still holding his cheek with one hand as blood dripped through his fingers, he sprinted toward me. There were two of him in my vision, so I aimed at one and pulled the trigger again, hitting him in the leg this time. He cried out, stumbling sideways and falling into the wall. He roared and clutched at his thigh, his lips pulled back in a grimace as he stared at me with hatred in his eyes.

“You’re fucking dead,” he snarled, and before I could pull the trigger a third time, the door behind me slammed against the wall and someone rushed past me, tackling Thorne to the ground.